As the cavalcade of the Egyptian prime minister raced through Gaza City on a
tour of war damage on Friday morning, an Israeli air strike hit Jabalia camp
just north of the city.

A six year-old boy was killed and a 22 year-old man injured in the blast. Mr Hisham Qandil's convoy pulled into the entrance of Shifa hospital with his host, Hamas leader Ismail Haniya, just as two ambulances bearing these latest casualties of Israel's Operation Pillar of Defence screamed in through the hospital entrance.

Mr Qandil, watched closely by his security detail, helped medics pull the body of the young boy onto a stretcher, smearing blood on his shirt, and kissed him lightly on the head.

"Now you see the blood of Palestinians, it's on you," Mr Haniya, the Hamas prime minister exclaimed, making his first public appearance since Israel's assassination campaign began on Wednesday.

War-weary Palestinians and Israelis had hoped that during his three hour visit to the Gaza Strip, Mr Qandil would convince Hamas to halt its rocket fire and usher in peace talks.

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Israel had offered to suspend its attack for the duration of the Egyptian prime minister's visit, if the militants held back their rockets. But for Hamas, the Egyptians were in Gaza to endorse armed resistance.

The Israeli army claims to have held fire for the first two hours of Mr Qandil's visit while 50 rockets were launched into southern Israel. The devastating strike on Jabalia camp marked the end of Israel's brief respite.

"Egypt is standing side by side with the Palestinian people," Mr Qandil told a jostling horde of news crews gathered in the emergency unit of Shifa Hospital. He urged Palestinian factions to unite but made no mention of the much anticipated ceasefire.

"I have seen many people killed, held the body of a six year-old boy. We will do everything we can to prevent his war," he said.

Director of the Shifa's emergency operation, he had not slept since the Israeli offensive began 72 hours ago.

"We're seeing lots and lots of injured children. When a building is hit in an air strike, its windows shatter. It's the flying glass that causes most of the damage, and the shrapnel," Dr Elkaldi said.

His unit and hospitals acrossGazaare functioning at maximum capacity now. There are only 30 intensive care unit beds available in the whole strip and they are all full. Shifa Hospital has enough fuel left to power the generators keeping 27 patients on life support for 48 hours."

We have an emergency plan in place, we will evacuate the most urgent cases to Egypt for treatment," Dr Elkaldi said, adding, "There are already ambulances waiting on the Egyptian side of Rafah crossing."

Burying the dead, of which there are now more than 20, poses yet another problem. According to Islamic law, bodies must be buried within 24 hours and Gaza's graveyards run along the Israeli border.

"Even burying people is dangerous," Dr Elkadi said.

Shortly after Mr Qandil had left the hospital for the Rafah border, a second Egyptian delegation arrived headed by Abdulmoneim Aboul Fotouh, the secretary general of the Arab Medical Union and unsuccessful Islamist candidate in the recent presidential elections.

Mr Aboul Fotouh met Mohammed Al Shorfa, a 36 year-old father of five who was caught in an Israeli strike while helping to carry an injured neighbour to an ambulance on Wednesday evening. Shrapnel tore into his stomach, exposing his intestines."I feel supported by the Egyptians coming here. I hope they will help to reach a ceasefire. Inshallah the Egyptians will bring peace," Mr Al Shorfa said with a faint smile.

After visiting the wounded in Shifa's crowded wards, Mr Aboul Fotouh spoke to worshippers at the Shifa mosque during Friday prayers. His words rang from the minaret through the hospital. "The Arab nations should support you seriously not just with words. Words do not bring independence and peace. The Zionists must face the resistance."